Me and Mr Mantis
by DonutBeagle
Summary: When Snake passed away, he left a few gifts: for Meryl his bandana, for Drebin his grenade launcher, and for Sunny a creepy little doll. . .


This funny idea came to me: what if Sunny was given the Psycho Mantis doll? What kind of chaos would this interesting duo create in just a short amount of time? Let's find out!

I don't own the Metal Gear series.

* * *

**Me and Mr. Mantis**

**AKA, "How Sunny got infatuated with her doll"**

Hal rubbed his temple, having stayed up late working on his new addition to the Metal Gear lineage: Metal Gear Mk. IV. It was a small reconnaissance droid he created to replace the last one after he gave it up to some local boy who she met while attending Meryl and Johnny's wedding. The Mk. IV was a step up from its earlier predecessors, having to rely on someone to protect it in case of a firefight. A small barrel was fastened to its side, giving it the ability to shoot 9 x 19 mm rounds, the only drawback that it carried a single magazine of 33 bullets. Then again, the addition of OctoCamo along with its Stealth Camouflage would prove to be hard to locate in a warzone.

"Motion Tracker seems to be working fine," Hal mumbled as he typed a few more keys, "Just need to see if. . . ah, here we go!"

The Mk. IV disappeared momentarily before reappearing. Stealth Camouflage was a go.

"Sunny, come on down. It's ready," Hal called upstairs to the kitchen.

Ever since Raiden risked his life to free Sunny from the Patriot's clutches, the child prodigy had become a part of Hal's life. Her skills with computers were legendary, having been able to complete the final touches on Naomi's virus designed to infect JD, the central AI of the Patriot's system, thus putting an end to the monstrosity known as the 'War Economy' and give humanity a second chance.

Nations that became interdependent on the convenience of the PMCs, they fell into what was being called 'the slump'. Without the conflict and death 24/7, these small nations were experiencing a free fall in stocks, a recession that was steadily growing worse each day. The UN had now become a part of something much bigger, being saddled with the responsibility of picking up the pieces and restoring order, though it was already too late for many of the weaker countries that had to give complete control over to the big three and only superpowers of the world: Russia, the United States, and China.

Despite the wailing and tears shed for the war economy, the world could breathe easier knowing that the fighting had subsided after nearly four years of continous bloodshed.

"You cooked them right, Uncle Hal?" Sunny clomped down the stairs with her apron on, a telltale sign that she was cooking eggs once again.

"Yeah, what do you think we shou. . ." turning around to face her, Hal froze in mid-sentence when he saw what she was holding to her chest.

Before Snake passed on, he managed to give out a few gifts while on his deathbed. Usually they were from his missions, such as the Bandanna which he gave to Meryl or the grenade launcher to Drebin. But the one gift he gave to Sunny was the most disturbing. . . the Psycho Mantis doll.

"So?" Snake croaked, "Don't girls like dolls?"

He was sitting on a chair that was covered with animal pelts. After his final mission, the old veteran had returned to his old log cabin in Alaska, accompanyed by Hal and Sunny. The two of them knew that Old Snake would be seeing his last days, and spent every moment with him. Sunny's culinary skills had improved, Hal had taken a break from electronics in order to enjoy the wildlife, while Snake had finally given up smoking.

Now that he had two weeks left on this Earth, he decided it would be fitting if he give out parting gifts to his old friends and comrades. Meryl and her husband Johnny came, followed by the retired Campbell, Mei Ling, Raiden and Rose brought their son along with them as well.

With Campbell outside enjoying the Alaskan landscape and with Mei Ling talking to Meryl, Hal took the opportunity to confront Snake about his 'present'.

"Yes, but the point being is that Psycho Mantis wasn't exactly a people person," Hal looked over at Sunny who was sitting at the dinner table getting acquainted with her new friend, "I think you need to get her a more appropriate gift."

"I'm not going to be the one to take it from her," Snake chuckled and then went into a fit of coughing, "Besides, it only works on nanomachines."

Twelve days later Snake died. The funeral was held at a chapel overlooking Alaska's mighty forests and mountain range, everyone who knew or got acquainted with the clone of Big Boss was there, some shed tears while others simply smiled knowing he was finally at peace.

It had been thirty-six days after the funeral and Sunny was still fixated on the doll.

"Uncle Hal?" Sunny sat thee plate of eggs down on the desk near the monitor, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Hal rubbed his temple, "I'm fine. I see you're still with that doll."

"His name is Mr. Mantis."

"What?"

Sunny held the doll up, "Mr. Mantis."

Hal's mind seemed to seize up as if his head had been dunked in a bucket of ice-cold water, "You. . . gave it a name?"

"Of course, everyone in the family needs a name!" Sunny chirped and perked up when she heard a clinging noise upstairs, "Oh! That's the toast! Don't worry I'll get it!"

She bounded across the floor and up to the second level with her new friend waving his hands in the air, but Hal didn't seem to notice.

_A part of this family? Oh boy. . ._

_

* * *

_

**Five weeks later. . .**

Batting a funny ghoul out of the way, causing the electronic toy to go into a fit of giggles, Hal rushed to pour candy into the bowl. It was October 31, 2014. Halloween.

This would be Sunny's first time Trick-or-Treating; she hadn't really made any friends outside of Philantrophy or computers, but had since then made a few new ones when she and Hal moved in to a rural neighborhood in Kentucky. Like Snake, they opted for a more quiet and peaceful life away from all activity. They were far away from the Slump, the PMCs, any terrorist group or government spook, it was just them far away from the world's troubles.

"Sunny, are you finished getting your costume on?" Hal called upstairs.

"In a minute," she called back down, "Just need to get the mask on!"

Hal had given Sunny some suggestions on what to wear: a princess, vampire, anything off the top of his head. But the seven year old chose to give him a cheeky smile, "It's a surprise!"

Normally Hal would have started worrying off the bat, but decided that Sunny was just having some harmless fun with him. Boy, how wrong he was.

"Alright! I'm coming down!" Sunny's footsteps could be heard as she bounded down the stairs.

Hal nearly reached for the crucifix hanging on the wall, but stayed his hand. Standing near the doorway was what could be described as a miniature version of Psycho Mantis.

The first thought that came to his mind was that Sunny put a lot of effort into her costume, the gas mask was especially convincing and her breaths came out like hisses.

"You like it?" Sunny's voice sounded strange, slightly muffled beneath the mask. Hal was in a state of shock.

"Uncle Hal?"

"Er. . ."

"Do you like the costume I made?"

"N. . . well, Sunny. . ." the doorbell rang.

"Oh! That's my friends!" the mini-Mantis picked up her pillowcase she dropped on the floor prior to getting her costume on and ran to the main entrance.

Hal still looked as though someone had punched him in the gut.

Opening the door, Sunny received a squeal of excitement, "Eeee! Sunny, is that you?"

"You bet?" she looked over her friends shoulder, "Where's Kyle and Trent?"

The girl at the door was dressed up as one of the Sailor Senshi from the popular anime series, "Those two are inside my mom's car. The four of us are going to the Halloween party, remember?"

"Of course!" Sunny turned to her adoptive father, "Goodbye, Uncle Hal! I'm off to the party!"

"Goodbye. . ." Hal said weakly, staring at the back of the mini-Mantis.

When the front door slammed shut, causing a couple of the funny ghouls hanging from the ceiling to go into a fit of giggles.

_Damn things, _Hal thought distastefully, _I wonder how Sunny convinced me to buy such annoying decorations. What's worse is that now she looks like Psycho Mantis back from the dead._

As he continued to pour candy into the bowl while plotting ways to get rid of Sunny's awful costume, he froze, remembering one little detail he had forgotten_._

_Wait, how did she know that those were her friends at the door?_

_

* * *

_**April 5, 2015**

The St. Germaine Lutheran Church was getting ready for the Easter egg hunt. Families had gathered in flocks in the church backyard, eagerly anticipating the egg hunt and the brunch that was to follow.

Pastor Arden had been the one to organize such an event, he wanted to make sure that everyone got a fair share of food and Easter eggs while they were at it. The courtyard was an open field with tall grass and shrubs, huge oak trees provided shade from the hot spring sun. This was where the children would search for the Easter eggs, all painted and decorated by the church staff.

"My, my, look at them go," he chuckled as he watched a group of the children form some sort of an alliance and share the Easter eggs they spotted. The pastor saw that many of them were running willy-nilly across the field, looking in every direction as if their lives depended on it.

Yet there was one thing that surprised him. Out of the sixty-nine children partaking in this event, only one seemed to be not in a hurry.

He recalled seeing that girl when Hal Emmerich, a newcomer to the church, attended one of their worship services. She was in her Sunday best, had the most beautiful smile, and was usually quiet when around other children her age. That same girl seemed to be taking a stroll rather than sprinting like the children had, picking up any egg she found, not even putting an effort in searching for them.

She was a delightful little girl, but the only thing that disturbed him the most was the doll she carried around with her while searching for eggs.

Picking his way through the crowd of parents, stopping for a little while to greet someone who called out his name, the pastor found the man he was looking for sitting at one of the tables reserved for parents.

"Mr. Emmerich?"

Hal finished swallowing the mashed potatoes he had been enjoying, "Oh, Pastor Adrian?"

"Yes, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Definitely."

Adrian nodded, "That's great, but that's not the reason why we're talking. I want to ask you a question, if that's alright with you."

"Sure," Hal smiled, _Something tells me its going to be about that doll._

"Is there a reason why your daughter must carry that hideous doll with her?"

_I knew it. . . _Hal cringed, taking in a deep breath, "I have done everything in my power to destroy that doll, Adrian. Threw it away, burned it, nothing ever seems to work.

"Burned it?" Adrian looked skeptical, "Do you want me to believe that you threw it into a fire and it didn't burn?"

Cursing his slip of the tongue, Hal waved his hands despairingly, "I mean it's a made out of some sort of material resistant to fire, how am I supposed to know?"

"Aren't you a scientist?"

"No, not really. I'm just a engineer, I've worked with a lot of big companies in the past."

"Ah, I see," he shifted his gaze back to Sunny who was currently picking an egg out of a bush just a couple of yards away, "But I still don't see how she could have known where the eggs are hiding."

Hal's knuckles turned white, he stared down on the ground, "Uh, Pastor Adrian?"

"Yes?"

"Do you perform exorcisms?"

* * *

**December 25, 2015**

"Who is hungry for some cake?" Hal set the ice-cream cake at the head of the table.

Everyone had agreed to have a huge Christmas party, to celebrate the birth of Johnny and Meryl's child: Cindy. It was such an important occasion that Hal decided to ditch the artificial tree and get the White Fir Sunny had been pestering him about. The tree had been dressed in ornaments and nearly reached the ceiling.

The star on top was a bright silver, reflecting the light from the room and giving off the appearance that it was flashing. It had been in the Emmerich family for quite some time now, back when he still had Mom, Dad . . . Emma.

He banished those thoughts from his head. No, now wouldn't be a good time to be nostalgic right now. Besides, his family was already here.

"Not me, I think I'll wait for a little bit," Johnny mumbled as he picked up his plate to take to the kitchen.

"Don't mind, Akiba," Ed laughed, "He isn't a chow hound like the rest of us."

Meryl ,who had been sitting next to Johnny before he got up, gave her former teammate a look, "His name is Johnny, we don't use that name unless we are on the battlefield."

"Oh, right. Sorry, its just that calling him that tends to get in infectious," Ed apologized as he scooped up the last of his potato salad.

The former Rat Pat 01 were the only ones currently sitting at the table. Raiden and Rose had occupied a couch and sat watching as Sunny and their son, Jack, admiring their recently open presents.

Sunny was currently fawning over her Mac OS X, which was actually a resort with a small pool. She set her unwrapped dresses and games aside just so that she could get to look over her favorite present so far.

"How did you know that it was going to be a laptop?" Sunny looked up to see Jack staring at her. The silver-haired boy greatly resembled his father, he even got his serious look.

"It's a special gift Mr. Mantis gave me," Sunny held up her infamous doll, "I just read Uncle Hal's thoughts. I couldn't help it, even when I tried."

Overhearing the conversation between the two tykes, Hal sighed. He asked Pastor Adrian back last Easter if he could perform an exorcism on that evil little doll, hoping to free Sunny from its clutches. Initially confused, Adrian agreed and had a short little talk with Sunny after all the eggs had been found. To this day Hal had wondered what the pastor said to Sunny that made her promptly hand over that Mantis doll, but questions like that would have to wait since Adrain seemed to know what he was doing.

Taking the doll with him into a room, Adrain shut the door behind them and had Hal watch while the Easter feast was winding down. When a few of the patrons came by to ask if they could see the pastor, Hal told them that he was occupied and asked to not be disturbed. Some of them nodded respectfully and left while others complained that he was supposed to be seeing off some the the guests who were leaving early.

A little more persuasion sent them away.

Watching Adrian work on that doll, praying and reading scripture, for the past forty minutes made Hal even more anxious. Questions bounced around in his head, most of them unanswered from Adrian performing the ritual. Was that doll really cursed? Was Psycho Mantis still alive in spirit?

"So, what did you find?" Hal asked as Adrian stood up and turned away from the doll on the table.

"Just echoes."

"What?"

"The doll is all that remains of a maniac. It carries a sliver of his powers, but I wouldn't worry of possession."

Hal let out a sigh of relief he had been holding in, "So is she going to be okay?"

"Other than the ability to read minds, she is in good health."

To this day Hal had watched Sunny closely, monitoring her progress as a psychic. She knew the answers on a game show before they could be revealed, has read his mind at times, and still spoke to the doll while playing tea parties with it.

Having exhausted every other option, Hal sent Sunny to psychiatric help in an effort to cure her of her obsession with that doll, but Psycho Mantis won as usual. By the time it was November, he had given up on separating the odd pair.

"So is Sunny still okay?" Meryl spoke to him, and for a moment Hal wondered if she had gotten her mind reading skills from Psycho Mantis.

"Other than the fact that she is able to invade other minds, she is in good health," Hal mumbled, "She doesn't use her gift for any malicious purposes which is a relief."

Feeling all eyes at the table were staring at him, Hal started cutting a slice of cake.

"Well Snake's lack of judgment wasn't just reserved for Sunny," Meryl crossed her arms.

"Huh?"

Pointing over near the Christmas tree where Jack and Sunny were still looking over their presents, a cradle was being rocked gently by Mei Ling who had volunteered to look after Cindy while her parents ate. Inside was a cute little girl, with rosy cheeks and the Sorrow doll held in a tight hug.

Hal's heart skipped a beat, "Wha. . .why didn't you tell me he handed you that doll?

"We thought it wasn't a big deal at the time!" Meryl protested.

But now when we think about it, it would have been better to have to Snake no," Johnny came back in and sat next to his wife.

"Has she shown any. . .you know, symptoms?" Hal stuttered.

Meryl sighed, "Not if her first words were, 'Sad. . .so sad.'"

* * *

Well, here it is. My first one-shot. This came to me when I beat MGS4 on Solid Normal, when using the Psycho Mantis doll excessively on the Middle East level.

Also, when I wanted to come up with how to end this one-shot, I had several scenarios (one was Cindy saying, "I see dead people," or something like that) but decided using one of The Sorrow's quotes would have been in better taste.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had writing it! Now back to Halo: RE!

Reviews are a necessity here.


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